Strange planes were spotted in the sky over Ukraine: what is happening and is it possible to resume flights

On the evening of May 22, a passenger plane allegedly flew over the territory of Ukraine. Ukraerorus explained that there was a malfunction and what happened.

This flight of a passenger plane over the territory of Ukraine was reported by the monitoring website Flightradar, which tracks the movement of aircraft around the world in real time. OBOZ.UA investigated the situation.

According to the service, the plane appeared on the radar at about 21:30 on May 22. According to the information, it was a passenger Boeing of Turkish Airlines. It appeared on the radar near Bila Tserkva and landed near Vinnytsia half an hour later. Therefore, if this flight did take place, it was a domestic flight.

According to Flightradar, the Boeing 737-800 passenger plane with the tail number THY3901 belongs to Turkish Airlines. According to open sources, on the night of May 23, it was indeed flying near Ukraine. However, the plane was not flying from Bila Tserkva, but from Romania to Antalya, and this flight successfully completed in the morning.

Telegraph journalists contacted Ukraerorukh, the state-owned enterprise responsible for maintaining the airspace over Ukraine, and received a comment from its head, Andriy Yarmak. He said that there was a technical failure in the Flightradar.

It is worth noting that since the airspace over Ukraine has been closed to civil aviation, this is the second time that Flightradar has reported a passenger plane flying over Ukraine.

Thus, on June 23, 2023, the monitoring website Flightradar24 recorded that a Polish passenger plane flew into the airspace of Ukraine, which was closed due to the full-scale war. It flew over the Zakarpattia region, flying around a storm front. Enter Air confirmed the incident and said that everything happened in accordance with safety procedures.

It was also reported that a Norwegian charter plane with passengers en route to Turkey flew over Ukraine on July 25, 2023. The Airbus A320-200 aircraft, owned by BBN Airlines, was en route to Antalya via Ukraine. The company itself does not say that it was flying through Ukraine.

Resumption of air traffic in Ukraine

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, the airspace over Ukraine has been closed to civilian aircraft. Therefore, the issue of resuming flights in Ukraine is becoming increasingly relevant, and the requirements for this process are determined by several key factors. One of them is an effective air defense system that will ensure flight safety.

Olivier Yankovec, Director of Airports Council International Europe (ACI EUROPE), said that air traffic in Ukraine could be resumed by the end of 2024.

"I would hope so. I think it is highly likely. Despite the military risks, Ukraine does not stop trains, and they are very slow, unlike airplanes. However, for some reason, everyone has decided that aviation is more dangerous. This is not entirely correct in terms of risk assessment. Especially since there are technologies to make flights safe even in the current environment," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

He noted that this requires making sure that the air defense system is functioning properly. In addition, it is necessary to resolve the issue with insurance companies.

Earlier it was reported that Ukraine is waiting for F-16 fighter jets from its Western partners. Thus, on Wednesday, May 8, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. They discussed solutions that would help speed up the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine.

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